[ of all of the blurry memories of his strange adventure into the echoes of jiaoqiu's life - it is this one that sticks out the most firmly, like a thread wound around his heart, into the chambers and through the aorta, inextricable. ]
Everyone in her village was killed. I only found her because - [ a slight hesitation, but he trips over it and carries on ] - another soldier called for my aid, because she was so terrified of him that she ran and hid. I managed to coax her out of her hiding place, bit by bit, and... after that, she remained with me.
[ he sounds so fond as he says this, achingly so. he loved that little girl so dearly, in ways he couldn't even begin to put to words. he has never had bonds, let alone something like that. the chance to provide shelter to a terrified orphan - true shelter, true warmth and kindness. the way her tiny hand fisted in his shirt sealed his decision on that little girl before the words had even come out of his mouth. ]
[ cupping his hands to better support the keychain, zhongli looks down at it while he listens to taair speak. a small smile twists at his mouth, hearing that the little girl was afraid of the soldier - it reminds him of ganyu when she was young, her parents bringing her to meet the adepti that formed half her heritage, afraid of morax and clutching guizhong's flowing sleeves for safety. ]
Huohuo... huo is a patchouli, a kind of mint. It's one of the 50 most fundamental herbs in traditional medicine. [ it wouldn't surprise him if the same was true in both liyue and the xianzhou alliance, frankly. ] I'm sure, despite the adversity she faced when you met her, she still flourished like her namesake, regardless. Especially under a gentle, guiding hand as yours.
[ that offered, he turns and looks back to him with hand extended to return the keychain to him. ]
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no subject
[ of all of the blurry memories of his strange adventure into the echoes of jiaoqiu's life - it is this one that sticks out the most firmly, like a thread wound around his heart, into the chambers and through the aorta, inextricable. ]
Everyone in her village was killed. I only found her because - [ a slight hesitation, but he trips over it and carries on ] - another soldier called for my aid, because she was so terrified of him that she ran and hid. I managed to coax her out of her hiding place, bit by bit, and... after that, she remained with me.
[ he sounds so fond as he says this, achingly so. he loved that little girl so dearly, in ways he couldn't even begin to put to words. he has never had bonds, let alone something like that. the chance to provide shelter to a terrified orphan - true shelter, true warmth and kindness. the way her tiny hand fisted in his shirt sealed his decision on that little girl before the words had even come out of his mouth. ]
Her name was Huohuo.
no subject
Huohuo... huo is a patchouli, a kind of mint. It's one of the 50 most fundamental herbs in traditional medicine. [ it wouldn't surprise him if the same was true in both liyue and the xianzhou alliance, frankly. ] I'm sure, despite the adversity she faced when you met her, she still flourished like her namesake, regardless. Especially under a gentle, guiding hand as yours.
[ that offered, he turns and looks back to him with hand extended to return the keychain to him. ]